Speech by Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD at the announcement of 200 new jobs at Zalando’s new software R&D centre

Today’s announcement concerns a significant R&D activity in Dublin, to explore fundamental aspects of consumer behaviour and their relationship with online shopping, and we are delighted that you have chosen to come to Ireland to carry it out.

Ireland’s pre-eminent position at the cutting edge of technology did not happen by accident. Our economy is an open and business-friendly one, with a minimum of red tape or administrative hurdles. Investing companies find certainty and transparency here.

My Government has put a lot of building blocks in place to create the right conditions for Internet companies like yours. We have ensured that Ireland is currently achieving a large increase in graduate output from third level ICT courses, driven in part by Government actions under the ICT Action Plan.

International rankings place Ireland highly in terms of talent availability, and our labour force is among the best educated in the world. We have the third highest proportion of maths, science and computer graduates in the 20-29 age cohort in the European Union.

This skills availability has been instrumental in attracting successful companies like yours to Ireland.

Ireland is now referred to as the ‘Internet Capital of Europe’. As you know, the venue you have chosen, here in Dublin’s docklands, is home to several world-leading ICT companies who are at the cutting edge of the new Internet world, of which Zalando is now also blazing a trail.

This clustering of high-technology companies, offering high quality jobs, in a part of the city that was previously a declining industrial area, is symptomatic of the changed nature of the Irish economy, as we now have a very significant and growing knowledge-based sector.

We are improving on many cost competitiveness indicators and, most importantly, we are creating significant numbers of new jobs.

Under the careful stewardship of my Government, Ireland’s economy grew by 4.8% in 2014 as the recovery strengthened. This growth rate was Europe’s fastest, a terrific achievement when you consider the state of our economy just four short years ago.

Our current unemployment rate is 10.0%, down from a high of 15.1% in February 2012. Last month was the 33rd month in a row which showed a decrease in unemployment. Every region of the country and virtually every sector of the economy is now showing growth.

Through the Government’s key initiative for job creation over the last few years, the Action Plan for Jobs, we have pursued a wide range of initiatives to improve competitiveness, eliminate blockages, and create jobs. It has included major Disruptive Reforms on Big Data, Data Analytics and ICT Skills as well as a range of other specific actions to make Ireland more attractive and help business to thrive, including in the ICT sector.

Through this process, we’ve made massive strides towards achieving our employment targets; we have achieved 90,000 of our 100,000 jobs target, and we have added an additional goal of 40,000 more in 2015 alone.
Through the 2015 Action Plan, we will continue to implement a wide range of impactful measures, on both a small and a larger-scale; including measures of relevance to companies like yours;

For example, as part of our National Talent Drive Disruptive Reform, we will continue to address the skills needs of industry, building on the good work already undertaken. We will increase higher education ICT graduates by 60% between 2015 and 2018, thereby meeting 74% of demand through domestic supply in 2018;

We will provide technology summer camps and 1,250 extra ICT places for students in 2015, and we will target almost 14,000 annual science, technology, engineering, and maths graduates by 2018. 2,000 work permits will also be issued annually to ICT professionals with relevant skills to meet the needs of industry, in a sector which requires specialist staff.
We will complete the rollout of 2,000 Trading Online Vouchers, through the Local Enterprise Office network; the Vouchers aim to get more SMEs trading online, in order to grow their sales, exports and ultimately jobs.

We will build a Competitive Ecosystem for Big Data, by identifying and focusing on Ireland’s competitive advantages and developing a specific Big Data agenda clarifying its leadership goals; we will develop a coherent eco-system to bridge the gap between R&D and innovation and take-up; and we will develop an internationally competitive Data infrastructure.
We are extremely open to new technology opportunities here, and I’m sure you are very well aware of our strengths, in terms of Data Centres, and in relation to innovative research opportunities.

We have stressed throughout our term that recovery has to be sustainable. There can be no return to boom and bust. That is why this month, in a Spring Economic Statement, we will set out the pathway to be followed in the years ahead to secure the recovery and to deliver sustainable, full employment by 2018.

As well as 40,000 new jobs this year, we will add the same again in 2016, 2017 and 2018 at which point we will have replaced every job lost during the recession with new, more sustainable jobs.

It can only be achieved by a Government that makes the right choices; one that protects the strong foundations that have been laid and ensures that the hard won recovery is sustained and endures.

At the heart of our plan will be a commitment to protect the hard-won restoration of our national competitiveness and stability in the public finances.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you well in your new offices, to thank you for the significant and important investment you have made in Ireland, especially with the creation of so many jobs, and to wish you all continued success.